Wi-fi adapter randomly failing

I had this same problem and in my case I found a fix for it.

It turned out that my battery had run low enough that my computer went into power-saving mode, and one of the things it cut the power to was the wireless adapter. When I went to check the status of the wireless adapter, it told me "This device does not exist" and gave me an error code with the hexadecimal number for 10. So there was no power going to the wireless adapter. Charging the battery to full power did not remove the power-saving cutoff measure applied to the wireless adapter.

To fix this, I went to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Device Manager > Network Adapters > (Name of Adapter, in my case Realtek etc. etc. etc.) > Right Click and Select "Properties" > Power Management tab

In this Power Management tab, there was a checkbox for "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power." This was checked. I unchecked it, restarted the computer, and my wireless adapter suddenly woke up and found its connection again. It has not disappeared since that happened. Therefore I highly suspect the issue is related to power management routines that kick in when the battery is low.

Hope this helps someone else who gets the same issue.

This PC was upgraded to Windows 11 and was compatible with it.

Would you recommend installing the drivers available on Acer's site despite them being outdated? Is there a risk when running the latest drivers?

I already have the Intel auto-updater.

All other drivers were up-to-date.

I think this laptop is out of warranty, however.

Anything else?

Did this PC come with WIndows 11 or did you Upgrade to it? Did you run the PC Health Check to know for sure it is compatible? https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows...

If so go to the Acer Support downloads webpage here: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support to download and install the latest Wireless adapter driver. While there make sure that you also have the latest chipset, BIOS, display, network, bluetooth, USB and all other drivers, compared to the ones presently installed in Device Manager reached by right clicking the Start button.

The most basic thing we need to learn to maintain a PC is how to keep the latest manufacturer's drivers current. Windows drivers are rarely enough.

If that driver is not sufficient then run the Intel auto updater to see what it finds: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support...

Keep in mind you also have a one year manufacturer's support, repair and replacement warranty that comes with any hardware so if problems persist you can call on the PC manufacturer's Support to fix or replace it, making sure it gets done soon enough so you can ensure the repairs work in time for the warranty expiration, or extend it. The PC may also still be under Store return policy, I would contact the manager who will often try to help.

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

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Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

Hi, thanks for responding.

I tried out some of the methods I missed (flight mode, task explorer, custom DNS) but they didn't work. So far, the most reliable temporary solution seems to be disabling/enabling device. But even then, after a few times of fiddling randomly with the settings until it works, it becomes unfixable (as in disabling/enabling has no effect) or just straight up disappears, and I have to restart/network reset again.

It seems none of the solutions are permanent.

I looked in the Events and it says something about Device not started (Netwtw10), is this relevant?

Here's one of them:

Device PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2723&SUBSYS_00848086&REV_1A\4&1c324e8c&0&00A0 had a problem starting.

Driver Name: oem29.inf

Class Guid: {4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}

Service: Netwtw10

Lower Filters:

Upper Filters: vwifibus

Problem: 0xA

Problem Status: 0xC00000C0

If you had any other suggestions that would be great.

Hi Combick. I'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, here to help you.

Try everything in these guides for Wifi disconnecting in Windows 11. If you've already tried a step, just skip over it and move on to the next. There are different ways to try the same steps which are also covered in case one doesn't work at first:

https://technclub.com/guides/fix-wifi-disconnec...

https://windowsreport.com/wifi-disappeared-wind...

(Avoid ad links which intrude into editorial copy, especially avoid Restoro, PC Repair Tool and Reimage ads)

https://pureinfotech.com/fix-wifi-problems-wind...

https://www.itechtics.com/wifi-disconnect-issue/

https://beebom.com/fix-wifi-keeps-disconnecting...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8uC6nsS-xs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdgKE-K-n30

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

______________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.